Clearing out My Craft Closet.
Every crafter has a box, cabinet, or closet filled with the dreaded unfinished objects, UFOs, projects that you meant to get to, might have started, but just never quite finished. In an attempt to complete my projects, I've started this blog to get me over the hump and try to finish all those pesky projects that keep hanging around the house or finally start projects that I intended to make.

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Thursday, December 29, 2016

This year was probably the most productive crafting Christmas in a long time. I think if I had had more time I would have made more. I was in the crafting flow.

I made some Cord Tacos for my family. I believe I made 33 of them! I felt like they were well received. One of my friends asked me to buy a few from me for stocking stuffers after I gave her and her husband the ones I made for them. This project was a quick and satisfying project and a great scrap buster! I could make these all day.

I made a double layered crocheted edge fleece blanket. This is the fourth blanket that I've done like this and I think I figured out the method to faster and more efficient blanket making. I failed to take a photo of this, but it was purple, grey, and black plaid with a purple fleece back. It think it turned out well.

I made a cute little sewing kit from my sewing stash and a bit of extra stuff for my cousin's daughter who wants to learn to sew. I made a pin cushion from a mason jar.

I made pinecone fire starters. This gift was kind of a wash. They didn't end up looking very good. I think they'll work though, so there's that.

I made homemade shave cream. Lavender and rosemary. It was kind of fun to make, but I think I might need to experiment with a homemade shave cream that lathers a bit more.

I also made some chocolate dry shampoo. I hope it works. I wasn't able to try it before gifting.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

This giveaway is CLOSED at 5pm PST on Sunday December 11th. The winner is Jennifer Blanton! Congratulations! Thanks to all that participated in the giveaway, 50 people! Just a note, if you commented with your email address, I removed it to keep your information safe! Thanks. Samantha

I am excited to be participating in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day this year. It's hard to believe that I started this blog 4 years ago to make closet space for my little one who is now four and a half and I have another little one that is two and a half years old! On the 4 year anniversary of this blog, I am very excited again to join in this year's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. My blog was started when I lost my crafting room when my son was born. It was an attempt by me to clear out my substantial craft supplies. I am still working on it. ;)

As this blog is about clearing out my craft closet, I am happy to send along a package with fabrics from my stash to a good home. I bought all of these fabrics with no project in particular so they've never come to anything in particular. I was thinking of making a quilt with these fabrics, but somehow my quilt never came into being. Sometimes, I liked the fabric and it was a good deal so I bought it. I just haven't made the projects. Too many projects, so little time. :) It's been difficult to get projects done around here with the two kids. I still try to craft when I can. It brings me so much joy. My giveaway prize features fabric from my stash. Three pieces of assorted mix. I apologize for the poor photos. I took them when my kids were sleeping. 1) A green fabric with gold star like pattern. 2) A peach and burgundy piece from a half apron that never was made. 3) A white fabric with green leaves that was a curtain in my old office before kids.. :)

A closeup of the patterns:

It's all packaged up and ready for a winner!To the winner, I hope you can find some good use out of these fabrics. I would love to see what you end up making. Send me a photo if you remember. This is my way of thanking the crafting community. I have learned so much from tutorials around on the web. So thank you! Samantha

To win, please leave a comment below from December 7th to December 11th at 5pm PST for a chance to win. You can write your email at ____ dot com so your email won't be picked up by spammers. I delete all comments with email addresses for your protection after the winner is chosen. Thanks. A random winner will be picked with the help of random.org by December 12th. If the winner does not respond in 5 days another winner will be pick (Sorry). US winners only. Sorry no international shipping.

Good luck!A question for you:Do you ever buy fabric without any specific intention or do you always have a project in mind when you buy fabric?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for helping me clear out my craft closet. :)

Some of my better ideas on this blog:

Organizing my fabric
Organizing my fabric has made my crafting time so much more efficient and pleasant. I can find everything!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

It's been a while since my last post. It's been a hectic time as it always is with very young children. I've been looking at all the wonderful projects that people around the world and I've been inspired. I've been feeling like I am spending too much time looking at what other people are doing and not doing enough myself. So... I've recently been fairly productive in the project department. I hope you are inspired and will join in me in making instead of watching.

I've had this thankful sign on my Pinterest board for over a year. I finally finished it today! Just in time for Thanksgiving. It's different than the original, but definitely inspired by it. I used what I had on had. A piece of board which was left over from a fence project, some lace that I purchased for some other project and it was the wrong size, and some burlap I already had in my stash. I did have to purchase a Sharpie White Paint pen, but I didn't have one and needed it for this project.

I also installed my rustic coat rack a few weeks ago. The children' coats in our garage were getting out of hand and a bit overwhelming. I used a piece of wood left over from another project and had aged in our backyard. I needed to find some good hooks, and I ordered some horrible ones. That's the trick. I found these hooks at Bed Bath and Beyond. They look great! The results were really positive in my opinion. The sense of being overwhelmed is greatly reduced!

I also was staring at my massive yarn collection. I haven't purchased yarn in years. So this beautiful yarn has just sat there without a purpose. It inspired me to start making the simplest scarf possible. It's a rib stitch, knit one, purl one. I finished one, and started another. I have to keep it with me so I actually finish them. It took me one week to finish the first one, but the second one has been delayed due to the flu last week.

I have been enjoying making t-shirts for my husband. He always seems to like them and he always likes long sleeved shirts. So... I had this idea of getting the kids and my handprints on a t-shirt for his birthday.

Getting the handprints were the most difficult part to get. Getting a handprint from a 20 month old is difficult. My 3 1/2 year old was happy to give a good handprint. I traced around our hands and then settled on a design for placement. Then I printed out the text that I wanted the word "love" and the year "2016." Then I placed it on contact paper and cut it out with an Exacto knife.

As for the fabric paint, I used white, and the pouncer I purchased a while ago from Amazon, a Martha Stewart product, is amazing.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

I was busy working on Christmas gifts up until two days before my family gathering. I missed out on taking photos of the actual gifts.. Fortunately, my family is awesome :) and most of them have taken photos and sent them to me so I can post here. More coming...

I made a bunch of business card wallets with clips for my aunts. Here are a few photos of them.

I loved this feathery designed fabric from Fabmo. One interior with purple and one interior was blue.

This fabric was from a swatch from a big swatch book also from Fabmo.

I used fabric from Fabmo, that is reclaimed fabric that was destined to go to the landfill. It was a lot of work to take off the fabric labels, but I think I figured out a good way to do it. First you soak the fabric, this might not work for all fabrics. I did this until the labels were very soaked. Then I threw them in the dryer and the labels came off fairly easily. Some of the fabric shrunk, but I didn't really care since I wasn't tied to the size.

Here are the instructions for the business card wallet: (I added a little strap and clip so that it could be clipped to a purse so it would not be lost)

I made a travel wallet for my mom since she does travel. I found this awesome fabric because I couldn't find the right fabric for her. It's Amy Butler free spirit line called Oh Dear. I love the fabric! I hope she does too. I opted not to make the straps for around the neck, because I didn't think she would use it. I thought a clip to hook it into her purse would be more practical.

Instructions for the Happy Travels wallet was found at Sew Mama Sew here: